AZTEK NEEDLES!!! YESSSSSS!

[Half Assed]

hmmm, maybe I'll head to my parents house this weekend and hit the junkyard...

$80 is kinda pricey for a cluster, but when you need just the needles that's robbery! LKQ jewed me out of $65 for my escalade cluster. I pocketed those aztek needles though.

 

[AirmanSkee]

Put me down for a set as well. There is no way I will find a set in AK no matter the price. I planned on LED bases anyways.

 

[Sampuppy1]

Hey Dylan, if you get a set, could I call dibs? They wanted $80 for me to go out and pull the cluster. $80!!!!

I'm thinking I'm going to drive down there in a couple days and talk them down, because I can't imagine they'll EVER sell an Aztek cluster otherwise. Don't see too many of them on the road any more, and I don't think too many people are interested in fixing them.

Jut pull the needles off and put em in your pocket. If it bothers you show them to the guys. Bet you can get em for $5. You don't need the whole Aztec cluster

 

[Half Assed]

I'll see what I can come up with.

I took some pics that are a little better. I need to charge up my Sony and get some good shots tomorrow night.

I gotta fix the speedo needle, its off by a few MPH.

You must be registered for see images attach

You must be registered for see images attach

 

[AirmanSkee]

I saw where the needles drop below 0 when the truck is off, but they work perfectly fine when on? And I have red LEDs anyways, planned on doing a custom set of strip LEDs in there to make it brighter. .79$ for a 15" strip of them on eBay. Then retro in some to light the needles as well.

To anyone who has access to a yard, Im definitely down to buy a set.

 

[Half Assed]

I dunno how well a strip would work.

My PnP 194 LED lights seem to work good on the whole face, but there are small spots that need LEDs like the needles. I'd also like to try and get the red zones on the gauges red instead of pink.

Yeah the gauges work fine when it's on. It's the cluster, not the needles. It came out of a denali with 287,000 miles on it. Maybe they just need some time to get working again? I hope they aren't messed up tomorrow. It makes the gauges look broken when it's off. haha

At least the gas gauge works though. The denali one was broken and I had to swap in the stepper motor from my '97.

 

[Half Assed]

Chris, they look like this:

http://www.gmt400.com/forum/showthr...-Another-mod-completed&highlight=aztek+needle

You must be registered for see images attach

After handling the aztek needles, it looks like that guy used 2 speedo needles and 4 smaller needles from an aztek (2 azteks needed). They all look shortened also.

Just something to think about. When I originally saw a post about these a while back I thought they were plug and play. Not exactly.

 

[AirmanSkee]

Ive done a set on a Yukon and you just put a bunch of strips across the backside of the casing for the cluster, works really nice.

 

[96k1500]

Hmmm, looks like i need to get me an esky cluster, some aztek needles, some leds and a little custom work

 

[eric.s.t]

I believe that the Aztec needles were all the same.
They do need to be modded slightly. The female part of the needle that fits onto the pin has to shortened. Use the originals as a template.
When I changed the needles in my blue '97, I made sure that the truck was up to temp, pulled the cluster, removed the clear plastic shield, then reinstalled the cluster. Took a quick pic to have a guide, then re & re'd the needles one at a time. The small ones were easy. The tach needle I set with a diagnostic tach when the engine was held at 2000 rpm. Lower rpm's made the settings too hard to match on the gauge.
The speedo I set with an iphone GPS. ('HUD AWESOME' -free app) That was the hardest part, as that truck has no cruise control, which would of made this so much easier!
Took the truck up to 60 mph, & stuck the needle on while driving. This took a couple of tries to get right. Trying to hold the truck exactly at 60 mph, while watching what I was doing with the needle. Getting the needle onto the pin & right on the speed was a bit of a PITA! (Do this when there is NO traffic around!) Then I took the cluster out of the truck & re-installed the plastic shield.

Ive always just put the truck on, then shut it off. Because then the Speedo, in theory, should be right at 0, no? I had did that with an old NBS i had bought and i pulled the cluster to fix the digital screen on it. And that had worked for me... 60km, no cruise control... trying to put the needle in.. haha better you then me!!

If I find some more I guess maybe $10 a set?

This thread motivated me to swap in my escalade cluster and aztek needles this evening. There were a few problems. The "small" needles are too long and you have to cut about 3/16" off all 4 of them. The tips aren't very bright and the tach needle is about 1/2" too short.

I might cut a longer speedometer needle down for the tach. It definitely needs some LEDs near to base to brighten them up.

pics:

You must be registered for see images attach

ignore the SES light. stupid p300 code again.

You must be registered for see images attach

not sure WTF is going on here...I even swapped out the water temp gauge from my 97 cluster and it did the same thing. This is when the truck is off.

You must be registered for see images attach

I never cared for ther look, but it really actually looks cool in your cluster!! Hopefully gmcyukon driver can get those for a better price ! 80$ for needles... thats nuts! lol